Australian Culture: The Battler

November 10, 2017

Ozzies Abroad, among other things brings stories about Australia to our Australian Expat community. We provide these easy reads on every topic on Australia so you’ll always have an interesting yarn. There are over 1 million Aussies abroad representing Australian culture overseas. Remember, It’s all about bragging rights!

Ozzies Abroad begins the series on Australian culture with my favorite thing about being an Australian and that’s the “Have A Go Mate’ attitude which embodies courage in the face of adversity. Australians aren’t necessarily the underdogs especially in this modern world but our support for the underdog crosses all boundaries. That attitude can be seen today at many international sporting events with a group of Aussies cheering a lesser known team from any country.

If you have tried your best and stayed strong then you are a “digger”, a champion and you deserve respect and recognition for that.

So why do Australians value attitude over outcome? I think because it demonstrates courage to “Hava go” and shows to the world that you haven’t lost until you surrender, it shows that a “battler” battles on and has the power to decide their fate. Australia’s history shows public support for the underdog from the Eureka Stockade to Ned Kelly and to the Anzacs.

In the year 1961, almost 100,000 Australians were on the streets of Melbourne giving a farewell parade to the West Indian Cricket team, the West Indies lost against Australia but Aussie’s loved them for putting up a good fight. We loved them because they “had a go”. Perhaps it’s a legacy inherited from the convicts, the pioneers or the harsh environment, nobody knows why Australians think success is the attitude and not the outcome. I hope that attitude never disappears.

Ozzies Abroad looks at some underdogs that embody the “Battler” attitude of Australian Culture. Although these Aussies came out winners they had the odds stacked against them and didn’t give up.

1983 Americas Cup

The New York Yacht Club had defended the Americas Cup for over 132 yeas, the longest winning streak in sporting history. The defending American Yacht Liberty was skippered by John Connor and the Australia II skippered by John Bertrand. Australia II came back from 3 races down to take the cup after 7 races, it came down to the decider after 3 wins each and Australia II staging a remarkable come back against all odds to win by 41 seconds. In the celebration that followed, Prime minister Bob Hawke publicly stated “Any boss that sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum”. Big call from the PM as it was outside his power of Prime Minister to decide a public holiday but he did it anyway.

Lional Rose

Lional Rose grew up hard in the town of Warragul, Australia. He was the son of a skilled fighter and donned a pair of gloves at the age of 10, with nothing else he trained tirelessly in his backyard. Rose won the Australian amateur flyweight title at age 16 and turned Bantamweight professional at the age of 16. Through his career Rose won 42 out of 53 fights and surprisingly won against Englishmen Harada to take the world title after lasting 15 rounds. He was the first indigenous Australian to win a world record and to become Australian of the year.

Prince Of Penzance 2015

The Melbourne Cup is a serious horse race and the bookies weren’t joking when they ranked Prince of Penzance 150-1. Stiff odds for Michelle Payne who is the first female jockey to win the coveted cup.

Keiran Perkins

Keiran Perkins is not a name that usually comes to mind when thinking about Aussie Battlers but the accomplished swimmer embodied the attitude in the 1996 Olympics. Perkins was past his peak, many commentators wondered why he was even there and he had only just made it to the event by 0.26 seconds. Relegated to the 8th lane which is like being put on the dregs table at a wedding, nobody but Australians paid much attention to the has been. Out of form Perkins lead the race from the 8th lane and actually took home the gold medal to the delight of many Australians. Read more about Australian Olympians here.

Peter Doohan

Wimbledon 1987 was won by Aussie Pat Cash however it was the match between Aussie Doohan and Boris Becker that had heads turning. Doohan was not a favorite but if he beat Becker then Cash would have a better chance at winning the Cup. After suffering defeat by Becker the week before in straight sets, Doohan came out and played the match of his life beating Becker in four sets. The odds were heavily stacked against him but he won and paved the way for Pat Cash to take the Cup.

Mathew Dellavedova

Have you heard of him? Basically he is an Aussie basketball player that was unwanted by any NBA teams in the 2013 draft but the Cavaliers picked him up for the summer season. He made the Cavaliers line up and was instrumental in helping the Cavaliers to be the first team in NBA history to win the championship after being down 3–1 in the series. His hard work and determination against all odds makes him an Aussie battler.

There You Have It

The Aussie battler is still a part of Australian culture and the community here at Ozzies Abroad are battlers representing Australian overseas. We hope you enjoyed our article and if you have any great stories or would like to give a shout out to any Aussie battlers you know then get vocal in the comments section below.

4 Replies to “Australian Culture: The Battler”

I love this article – The Battler. I have noticed that Australians are always fighting for the underdog. Australians are battlers.
Australians are tough. They do not surrender, and weakness is not in their culture. I am so glad that I came across this article. I love the sporting history detailed here. Thank you very much.

Hi there, I learnt a lot from this blogpost. I have never been to Australia but would love to go one day.
It’s great to see such passion couple with humbleness in a culture and the Australians always sound like a lot of fun.
Your blog is very visually pleasing and you have a great writing style.